


Until Death It Is All Life

by orphan_account



Category: One Piece
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-03
Updated: 2014-08-03
Packaged: 2018-02-11 13:33:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2070114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They stand before the death of the greatest man alive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Until Death It Is All Life

Doflamingo is seventeen, Corazon a few years younger, and they have come to see the great Pirate King die. They still only have each other, and among Roger’s words, Roger’s grin—the embers of his will, burning them all—Corazon feels their loneliness like a wave crashing upon them, fear and nausea and understanding tight in his throat. 

He and Doflamingo have only had each other these long years, and it is not enough. It was enough when they had lived in that land above the world—when their mother was sickly and cruel, their father harsh and demanding. It was enough when their mother died, far from her country and alone but for her demon-children. It was enough when Doflamingo’s hands and mouth were red and their father dead. 

Having each other was enough when they were running, air like fire in their lungs, from that place. 

But here, in the grandness of a dying man’s dream, Corazon knows they themselves are not enough. 

He feels a hand grip his wrist, tender and cold.

"Are you scared?" Doflamingo asks, smiling. It is a gentle smile, soft and filled with promises of happiness. Corazon feels his fears ebb away like a retreating wave.

"Yes," he says, quietly. He brushes against his brother’s side, familiar amongst the crowd and the heavy rain. "But I’m alright, because I definitely won’t let anything hurt you." 

His brother’s smile turns sharper, a laugh at the corner of his mouth. “The younger brother shouldn’t be the one to say that.” 

Corazon huffs. “It’s true, all the same.” Doflamingo’s reply is to smile wider and hum softly in acknowledgement.

_I’ll protect you_ , Corazon thinks as the swords swing down, as blood pools on the podium, great and mortal,  _and if I can’t, then I’ll find others to do it for me._

**Author's Note:**

> If my math is right, Doflamingo was 17 when Roger was executed. Seventeen was the age Luffy set out to become the Pirate King, so I thought maybe this was also the time Doflamingo started seriously gathering people. There were always people here and there, but for the most part it was just Doflamingo and Corazon.


End file.
